September 9-11GKTW DIS Family Reunion

[TheMaxRebo]

Thanks. This is just so foreign to how we do Disney. We are non-planners. We book our trips 8 or 10 weeks in advance. We stay offsite. We decide which park to go to each day the night before. We don't book ADRs. We rarely book FPs 30 days out (we do those the night before too).

To have to decide which days we will go to which parks weeks or months in advance - I don't even know where to start with that. It's really a crap shoot. Has there been much in the way of next day availability? If we're booked at Epcot tomorrow and it's going to rain, can we switch to a different park?

I guess we have to sit down and figure out how many park days we want and think about how we want to spend them. And of course this is also complicated because we know very little about the event itself. Will we want to do the parks on the days of the events or will we be spending the whole day at the Contemporary? How do you plan any of that?

As to availability - generally for people with regular tickets and or resorts stays there is quite a bit of availability - especially for parks other than DHS and especially for midweek. So if you were staying on site or had day tickets for this week, you very likely could just wait until night before or could change night before

If you are an offsite passholder, then there is less availability, especially on weekends

Of course, that is for now, who the heck knows what it will be like in March. Maybe harder as closer to spring break, maybe easier as they would have expanded capacity by then

 

[Lindsey17]

Well, after thinking about this, I'm probably in the "not going" category, I'm sorry to say. A non-refundable $400 is a lot of money to spend on something I'm not 100% sure I'd be attending due to the current climate. Plus I also have a trip planned for Mid-May (around my birthday), so it's not like I won't be down there eventually.

It is sad, though, because I was looking forward to meeting everyone from the shows (who I haven't already met) and the boards, and this won't be the last DIS event, so maybe I'll shoot for whatever they have planned for 2022...

I decided the same Tres. Plus having to pay for flight and hotel, spending all that money on just me had me feeling super guilty! That amount would be a decent amount of our next family trip. Plus as others have stated the whole unknown about the virus makes me rethink every decision I make about any near future plans. I hope that by March things are relatively normal, but I never would have thought this past March that we would still be dealing with this or at least at this level.

 

[dina444444]

That's another question. Do we want APs? We are going in October for the 50th. Now that we're also going in March, is the AP the way to go? Lots of numbers to crunch.

As of now they are not selling new APs, unfortunately you can only renew.

 

[dina444444]

I totally get that! My AP expires just a month before the event; I'm not sure when I'll be able to renew. I don't think I can make my park reservations until I renew my AP.

You can renew starting 60 days before the expiration date.

 

[disneysteve]

As of now they are not selling new APs, unfortunately you can only renew.

Well that could make my decision for me. The APs have gotten so ridiculously expensive that I might not have gone that route anyway.

 

[jcb]

That's another question. Do we want APs? We are going in October for the 50th. Now that we're also going in March, is the AP the way to go? Lots of numbers to crunch.

As you said, crunch the numbers when/if APs become available. The last time I did this (late 2019, after the AP price increase) it would have taken more trips that we wanted to make (shocking I know) or two quite long trips to make AP economical. When we bought APs in 2018 (for 2019), the break even point for us was around 10 days of park time (counting parking and other discounts). With the 2019 price hike, as I recall, going 2x a year for a week each wouldn't have come close to justifying renewing our APs. But by all means, hire an accountant who can figure out whether a WDW AP is worth it for you....

 

[AmberLuvsWDW]

We are going to have to let our APs lapse and just get tickets for the dates of the event. With the extension, it doesn't make sense for us to renew at our new renewal date (January) based on when we generally travel.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

As you said, crunch the numbers when/if APs become available. The last time I did this (late 2019, after the AP price increase) it would have taken more trips that we wanted to make (shocking I know) or two quite long trips to make AP economical. When we bought APs in 2018 (for 2019), the break even point for us was around 10 days of park time (counting parking and other discounts). With the 2019 price hike, as I recall, going 2x a year for a week each wouldn't have come close to justifying renewing our APs. But by all means, hire an accountant who can figure out whether a WDW AP is worth it for you....

plus you could factor in the discounts - though I know @disneysteve doesn't often stay on property so any AP rates on rooms don't really apply.

I know in the past some times it made sense for us with those discounts and then the dining discounts (and we would get a Table in Wonderland and often had a large group so that saved $ too)

But unless you really get a benefit from the discounts it is hard even with 2 trips to make it work

 

[OKW Lover]

I totally get that! My AP expires just a month before the event; I'm not sure when I'll be able to renew. I don't think I can make my park reservations until I renew my AP.

I'm in a similar position. Although I'm still not sure when my pass expires. I'm on the FL resident Platinum pass with monthly payments. Original expiration dated was 1/4, which got extended 1 month to Feb 3. Not sure if I should also get the 117 day extension for when the parks were closed. One of these days I'll call to figure it out.

 

[jcb]

plus you could factor in the discounts - though I know @disneysteve doesn't often stay on property so any AP rates on rooms don't really apply.

I know in the past some times it made sense for us with those discounts and then the dining discounts (and we would get a Table in Wonderland and often had a large group so that saved $ too)

But unless you really get a benefit from the discounts it is hard even with 2 trips to make it work

Agreed. The AP room discounts ended up making a big difference for us. They aren’t announced far enough in advance to include in the calculation. I mentioned hiring an accountant but some of the AP projections would Likely require an actuary.

 

[disneysteve]

As you said, crunch the numbers when/if APs become available. The last time I did this (late 2019, after the AP price increase) it would have taken more trips that we wanted to make (shocking I know) or two quite long trips to make AP economical. When we bought APs in 2018 (for 2019), the break even point for us was around 10 days of park time (counting parking and other discounts). With the 2019 price hike, as I recall, going 2x a year for a week each wouldn't have come close to justifying renewing our APs. But by all means, hire an accountant who can figure out whether a WDW AP is worth it for you....

Exactly, Jack. 10 days used to be the break even but it's longer now. Last time around, I bought an AP for me only and regular tickets for my family, and that was before the last price increase. At least that covered parking and got us some discounts (and it still wasn't worth it but I paid for the convenience). Now, I don't think the AP will be worth it at all, if they even offer them.

 

[dina444444]

I'm in a similar position. Although I'm still not sure when my pass expires. I'm on the FL resident Platinum pass with monthly payments. Original expiration dated was 1/4, which got extended 1 month to Feb 3. Not sure if I should also get the 117 day extension for when the parks were closed. One of these days I'll call to figure it out.

You only get the park closure extension with monthly patents if you called to ask for the extension. If you didn’t call your pass retained it’s original expiration date.

 

[hedberg1661]

I'm in a similar position. Although I'm still not sure when my pass expires. I'm on the FL resident Platinum pass with monthly payments. Original expiration dated was 1/4, which got extended 1 month to Feb 3. Not sure if I should also get the 117 day extension for when the parks were closed. One of these days I'll call to figure it out.

I renewed my pass. Out of state platinum passholder. I usually (pre-COVID) got down to WDW 4-5 times a year so it was worth having the pass. I am afraid that one if not both of these things will happen.

1. They don't sell new APs for longer than I would have anticipated making buying a new one when we can travel "more normally" next year is possible.
2. Regular ticket price increases for these peak days. I have the 50th anniversary at MK booked and I didn't want to be blocked out.

I figured it was easier to renew. Currently have plans for December 2020, March 2021 (DIS Event), and Oct 2021. I will surely add to the 2021 dates since we lost out on so many trips.

 

[jcb]

I will surely add to the 2021 dates since we lost out on so many trips.

We had that happen at the end of 2019, when we had to cancel December reservations - including a fantastic rate in the CS tower - due to my work obligations. We've yet to make up that trip.

 

[TresGriffin]

I'm in the same boat with my AP. Mine is set to expire on October 6th (originally was going to expire on May 12th), but now it doesn't make much sense to renew it right now, since I don't foresee going down there any time before spring of 2021, so might as well let it lapse and re-join in May.

 

[DanielleC]

I sent an email to Steve (@ GKTW) yesterday, he said they are still working on the schedule and they are still waiting on confirmation from a few more celebrities. He hopes to have it published after the 1st of the year.

My AP expires 3/24/2021!!!!! Though I know I'll renew it, I go up too often not too. It's only a 85 minute drive.

 

[MB_Ellie]

Thanks. This is just so foreign to how we do Disney. We are non-planners. We book our trips 8 or 10 weeks in advance. We stay offsite. We decide which park to go to each day the night before. We don't book ADRs. We rarely book FPs 30 days out (we do those the night before too).

To have to decide which days we will go to which parks weeks or months in advance - I don't even know where to start with that. It's really a crap shoot. Has there been much in the way of next day availability? If we're booked at Epcot tomorrow and it's going to rain, can we switch to a different park?

I guess we have to sit down and figure out how many park days we want and think about how we want to spend them. And of course this is also complicated because we know very little about the event itself. Will we want to do the parks on the days of the events or will we be spending the whole day at the Contemporary? How do you plan any of that?

I know it's hard to plan so far in advance. When we went in August, there was enough availability that I could have changed parks passes. Just note that within MDE there is no modify button with park passes, only cancel. This means that you have cancel the original park pass and reserve a new one when you want to switch to a different park.

I have booked parks for Thursday and Friday in hopes of popping into a park at some point in the day. I picked Magic Kingdom for one of those days since it's so close to the Contemporary.

 

[chipndaleluver]

We are at CR too for the 50th Anniversary. The prices were nuts.

DVC owners are allowed to book for OCT 2021???

 

[chipndaleluver]

Question...Did they actually say that the Live Podcast Taping is on March 28? I listened to the Marathon Show and Wednesday's announcement. If it was said then, I must of missed it.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

DVC owners are allowed to book for OCT 2021???

They may have booked room only before Disney stopped taking reservations. I got a room at Caribbean Beach booked right at the 499 day mark for right around October 1, 2021 for the 50th (would have done Contemporary but just could digest the cost)

There was like 3-4 weeks when it was open to book room only for the 50th before they stopped taking reservations